Abstract Details

Purpose:

To compare the incidence and intensity of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) between two similar single-piece foldable hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses (IOLs) but differences in the proprietary material characteristics and the design features over a period of 3 years.

Setting:

Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University Vienna

Methods:

Each study patient had cataract surgery in both eyes and received a Tecnis ZCB00 IOL in one eye and an Acrysof SA60AT IOL in the other eye. Follow-up examinations were performed six months and three years after surgery. Digital retroillumination images were taken of each eye. The amount of posterior capsule opacification (score: 0 – 10) was assessed subjectively at the slit-lamp and objectively using automated image analysis software (AQUA).

Results:

The objective PCO score of Tecnis ZCB00 IOLs was 1.3 ± 1.7 compared to PCO score of 0.9 ± 1.3 for the Acrysof SA60AT IOLs (p = 0.10). 26.1% of patients had a neodymium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Nd:YAG) capsulotomy in the Tecnis ZCB00 eye, and 21.7% had a capsulotomy in the Acrysof SA60AT eye (p = 0.56) three years postoperatively. There was no significant difference in best-corrected visual acuity, rhexis/IOL overlap, capsular folds and anterior capsule opacification three years after surgery.

Conclusions:

Both IOLs exhibited comparable PCO and YAG rates three years after surgery. The optimized barrier function of the Tecnis ZCB00 IOLand the specific material properties of the Acrysof SA60AT IOL seemingly outbalance the effect on lens epithelial cell migration and proliferation beneath the optic.